What You Didn't Know
by Isabel Night
Summary: Two years after the war with Talpa, on the day before the Ronins and Warlords come together to remember Anubis, Cale and Sage have a small talk. REVAMPED


What You Didn't Know  
Isabel Night  
  
Sage was walking around Mia's yard after dinner. It had been a quiet dinner, probably because it was May 4th. Sage knew that Anubis' birthday was coming up, and even on the 2nd anniversary of his death, he was still a sensitive subject among the Ronins. If the Warlords came over this year, like they did last year for Anubis' memorial, the Ronins would not talk about the "incident" in front of them.  
  
As Sage watched the sun set, a cold wind blew behind him. Turning around, he was surprised to see Cale leaning against the house, watching the sunset. "I thought you three weren't coming until tomorrow?" Sage asked.  
  
"We are coming tomorrow," Cale smiled, "I just wanted to see a mortal sunset. It's been a long time since I did something like that."  
  
"When was the last time you saw a sunset in this realm?" Sage asked, puzzled.  
  
"A sunset that meant anything," Cale responded, "the night Anubis and I were on the roof of the military barracks he was living in; the night before he found out that I was a Warlord serving Talpa."  
  
"Are you saying that Anubis didn't know the truth about you three at first?" Sage began.  
  
"Anubis never had a choice." Cale said calmly.  
  
"You took him against his will?" Sage asked in horror.  
  
"And you kept him from us." Cale replied, looking straight at him.  
  
Sage was puzzled, what exactly was Cale getting at?  
  
"Tell me Halo," Cale smiled, "Have you ever tried to separate a family before?"  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" Sage asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Let me rephrase that, 'Have you ever tried to take a person away from his or her family?' " Cale asked.  
  
"No," Sage replied.  
  
"Are you sure?" Cale responded, "Because you did, once. And at the time, you seemed to have no problem doing it."  
  
Sage was angry, "What does this conversation have to do with me? I would never break up a family that cared about each other."  
  
"Didn't my family count?" Cale questioned.  
  
Sage looked at Cale in shock, the Warlords saw themselves as a family unit?  
  
Cale smiled at Sage's shocked look, "Dais, Sekhmet, Anubis, and I were a family. We saw ourselves as four brothers. We may not have always shown it, but we did care about each other."  
  
"If that was the case," Sage argued, "Why did Anubis have to die?"  
  
"Anubis grew up too fast." Cale stated, "He needed to belong with others, he was too independent. When we first met him, we became good friends. Then, over 400 years of living together and bonding, we became a "family." I would never let anyone try to break that bond."  
  
"Then why did you tease him so much?" Sage countered.  
  
"All siblings do that," Cale shrugged, "I'm sure you do that with the other Ronins."  
  
Sage just looked at him in amazement.  
  
"I was an only child," Cale began, closing his eyes, "I always wanted a little brother to be friends with. I got along with Sekhmet, but when I met Anubis we, as you mortals call it, 'clicked.' I felt a bond with Anubis that I never felt with Dais or Sekhmet. I was the closest to him, and I would've never given him up. When he died, I didn't just lose a friend, I lost a member of my family."  
  
"But you took him against his will." Sage argued.  
  
"And your monk also took him against his will," Cale responded.  
  
"But he chose not to go back with you. So why did you take him back, even after he said no?" Sage questioned.  
  
"Maybe we tried to take him back because we didn't want to lose a member of our family," Cale stated. "Or maybe I was just selfish and didn't want to share Anubis with anyone else except Dais and Sekhmet. Remember, Halo, family was viewed differently 400 years ago, then it is now."  
  
"Either way," Cale continued, "He was family, and at that park you and the other Ronins tried to keep him from us. You tried to separate a family, but you didn't know that. For all you knew, we were the enemy, and in your mind, we could not form a family, much less a bond like you five have. So splitting us apart would have been as easy as breathing and you would've had no problem doing it."  
  
Sage let that point sink in.  
  
"War is not black and white, Halo. Even you, the Warrior of Wisdom, should've known that. And war can make people hypocrites. You just told me that you would never break up a family, but you had no problem trying to keep my family apart. Perhaps because we couldn't see past our hypocrisies, Anubis paid the ultimate price. Perhaps he was trying to show us a better way without being hypocritical."  
  
Cale turned to leave, but Sage stopped the ex-Warlord of Corruption, "Do you have any regrets?"  
  
"Do you?" Cale asked as he teleported away.  
  
Sage walked back into the house, he had no regrets. If it meant saving a life, even if Anubis hadn't died, he did not regret anything he had done. He was sure that if Cale wanted to protect Anubis, he would have no regrets either. 'Sometimes,' Sage thought, 'you may have to be hypocritical to save a life.'   
  
THE END 


End file.
